Turn Limits in Sim Games

[SusanTheCat]

I am re-writing Kitten Crusade: http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 11&t=14713

One of the things I am questioning is the arbitrary turn limit I placed in the game: You have to save your sister within 21 days. I did that to make the game more challenging.

I am now going to be expanding the game and having more story lines.

Should I
a) Extend the turn limit so the player will have time to explore the new stories
b) Remove the turn limit completely
c) Have a hidden turn limit and the squirrel character comes by every once in a while to tell you how your sister is doing

Thoughts?

Susan

[RunicV]

Why don't you let the player decide? You could let the player choose whether to have a turn limit or not. You say it's Easy Mode: no turn limit, or Normal mode: a turn limit that's shown, or Hard Mode: Shorter, hidden turn. ...etc.

If you're having more storylines, it would also be good to award the player for also playing the story while stat-grinding in hard mode, or else it wouldn't be hard, as all the player would do is to ignore the storyline and just grind, making it easy.

You could also make the player have a turn limit on their first playthrough, and let them choose a whether or not to have a turn limit on the next playthrough?

I know I didn't really choose any of the three choices you gave, but I feel it's better for the player to be able to choose.

If you want to make the game challenging, you could just make the player have to explore the stories in order to get a cat to ally with you, and have a hidden turn limit and with the squirrel telling you about the sister. The player would have to juggle stat-raising and exploring the stories.

Just my two cents. *runs away*

[papillon]

An option is probably the best way to go if you can. There are people who like the challenge and there are people who just want to calmly watch their numbers go up. The first group will be bored out of their minds in "endless mode", the second group may feel too stressed out to have fun with the pressure of deadlines.

[Reikun]

Does this mean Tristan gets his story line now???

If I *had* to pick one, I would say extend the turn limit to give time for exploring the new content! I liked the challenge of the turn limit on the first Kitten Crusade (I have to admit that I didn't beat the game in one shot though, I had to try again xD;;; ). Though as others have said, options for difficulty modes would probably be in the best interest of players if it's not too much work for you :0 I like the way RunicV outlined it!

[SusanTheCat]

My husband suggested another option:
No turn limit, but the final challenge gets progressively harder the longer you take.

Susan

[J. Datie]

My husband suggested another option:
No turn limit, but the final challenge gets progressively harder the longer you take.

Susan

I'd be a bit wary about that, actually. If the player's taking too long, it sounds like they'd need an easier finale, I'd think.

Something else to consider might be having different endings based on how many turns they take.